President Obama defends use of drones, calls on Congress to close Guantanamo Bay (poll)

President Barack Obama is defending the use of targeted drone strikes, even against American citizens. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Barack Obama defended the use of drones in the war
on terror, saying the strikes save lives and make the U.S. a safer place.

In a sweeping speech at the National Defense University in
Washington, D.C., Obama said the use of drones was not only effective but also
legal.

"It is also not possible for America to simply deploy a team
of Special Forces to capture every terrorist. And even when such an approach
may be possible, there are places where it would pose profound risks to our
troops and local civilians, where a terrorist compound cannot be breached
without triggering a firefight with surrounding tribal communities that pose no
threat to us, or when putting U.S. boots on the ground may trigger a major
international crisis."

In a letter to congressional leaders released yesterday, Attorney
General Eric Holder confirmed four Americans were killed in overseas drone
strikes since 2009. Obama his administration has worked to establish guidelines
for use of force against terrorists. He said regulations are now part of a
Presidential Policy Guidance that was signed yesterday.

"To say a military
tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every
instance. For the same human progress that gives us the technology to strike
half a world away also demands the discipline to constrain that power or risk
abusing it," he said.

"America does not take strikes to punish individuals – we
act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the
American people, and when there are no other governments capable of effectively
addressing the threat. And before any strike is taken, there must be
near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured – the highest
standard we can set."

Obama said Congress has authorized the use of force in every
strike, including those involving American citizens. He said his administration
is reviewing proposals to extend additional oversight of lethal actions outside
of warzones.

"For the record, I do not believe it would be constitutional
for the government to target and kill any U.S. citizen – with a drone, or a
shotgun – without due process," he said. "Nor should any president deploy armed
drones over U.S. soil. But the high threshold that we have set for taking
lethal action applies to all potential terrorist targets, regardless of whether
or not they are American citizens."

Guantanamo Bay Detention Center

The president also called on Congress to speed the closure
of Guantanamo Bay prison. He said he has asked the Department of Defense to designate
a site within the U.S. to hold the prisoners and is appointing a new senior
envoy at the State Department whose sole responsibility will be to oversee the
transfer of detainees to a third country.

Obama said he is also lifting the moratorium on detainee
transfer to Yemen, with each reviewed on a case-by-base basis.

"To the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees
who have been cleared to go to other countries. Where appropriate, we will
bring terrorists to justice in our courts and military justice system. And we
will insist that judicial review be available for every detainee," Obama said.

Obama promised to close Guantanamo during his first presidential
campaign. The Cuban-based facility has come under increased scrutiny in recent
months as multiple prisoners remain on a hunger strike. Out of 166 inmates, 102
are on hunger strike at Guantanamo, with 30 being fed through tubes.

"I know the politics are hard. But history will cast a harsh
judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism, and those of us who
fail to end it. Imagine a future – 10 years from now, or 20 years from now –
when the United States of America is still holding people who have been charged
with no crime on a piece of land that is not a part of our country. Look at the
current situation, where we are force-feeding detainees who are holding a
hunger strike. Is that who we are? Is that something that our Founders foresaw?
Is that the America we want to leave to our children," he said.

"Given my administration's relentless pursuit of al
Qaeda's leadership, there is no justification beyond politics for Congress to
prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened,"
Obama said.